00:00It seems that we are completely wrong about dinosaurs.
00:05In addition, movies have created an image of them that is now difficult to get rid of.
00:09You know what I'm talking about.
00:11Dinosaurs, like gigantic lizards.
00:15I mean, lizards are fascinating.
00:17There is a type of lizard that can be found in the Costa Rican streams,
00:21which can stay underwater for up to 16 minutes.
00:24They create an air pocket at the top of their muzzle
00:27and breathe the exhaled air while they are submerged.
00:31The so-called horned lizards can shed blood from their eyes,
00:34projecting it up to two meters.
00:36The poor lizard is forced to do so when it approaches the mouth of its attacker,
00:41because this bad taste makes the predator change his mind,
00:44which will look for a more delicious bite.
00:47There is the basilisk lizard, which can run on water
00:50when it escapes from larger animals in the tropical forests of Central America.
00:55It can do this over short distances,
00:57but still, it manages to stand up and lean on the skin's lumbar
01:01on the toes of its hind legs to have more surface.
01:06Many types of lizards have had to develop such unusual adaptations
01:10in order not to become an easy and fast prey for snakes,
01:14coyotes, hawks, foxes and other larger animals chasing them.
01:19They would not dare to do this if they had great cousins who would protect them.
01:23Like dinosaurs.
01:25But even if they look like gigantic scary lizards in the movies,
01:29this is not what you would see if you had the chance to return to the era of dinosaurs.
01:34You will have to be vigilant and run if you see feathered creatures instead.
01:39Feathers do not look so scary
01:41because birds are the only living animals today to have them.
01:45But millions of years ago, it was a completely different story.
01:48Some of the most fearsome dinosaurs were also covered in feathers,
01:52shapes, sizes and different colors.
01:55For example, look at this creature, a cousin of the famous T-Rex.
02:00It was a fearsome predator that weighed 1.5 tons
02:03and was covered in a thick coat of filament known as proto-feathers.
02:09These feathers were not used to fly,
02:11but to stay warm or attract partners.
02:15Or let's take a Veliciraptor as an example.
02:17For so long, we thought it was a predator,
02:20raised with the skin of a lizard.
02:22But it turns out that it was a much smaller and more colorful creature,
02:25covered in feathers, like a kind of bird.
02:28Many of their relatives among the dinosaurs had long feathers on the forearms,
02:32accompanied by velvet feathers distributed over the rest of the body.
02:37This works for most carnivorous dinosaurs or the so-called theropods.
02:42There were tiny ones with a tail in a fan full of feathers.
02:46Or those with shiny feathers in a mixture of colors.
02:50It was like a hummingbird.
02:52Maybe it wouldn't be so scary to deal with dinosaurs.
02:56Some of the fossils that researchers have discovered are well preserved.
03:00In combination with the modern techniques they use to study these fascinating creatures,
03:05they have discovered that dinosaurs had different colors.
03:09Archaeologists have found fossilized feathers,
03:11as well as fossils of melanosome structures.
03:14These are pigments that gave them gray, brown and black colors.
03:18Like the anchiornis, whose body was almost entirely black.
03:22It looks like a bird with wings and wavy tail feathers on its hind legs,
03:27as well as a fairly long tail that could flourish.
03:31This guy also had white stripes along its wings.
03:34It also had a brown head crest.
03:37It may have been there as a demonstration
03:40or used to communicate with other anchiornis dinosaurs.
03:44And look at this one.
03:46It also had a wavy tail and different marks on its body.
03:51Thanks to the fossils they discovered,
03:53researchers were able to reconstruct the appearance of this dinosaur by giving it so many details.
03:58Not only did the dinosaurs look like birds,
04:01but they also behaved in a similar way to them.
04:05For example, they sat on their nests to protect their eggs
04:09and probably used their feathers for parades.
04:13A discovery in Canada revealed that a type of dinosaur had a fleshy crest on its head,
04:18like the crest of a roach.
04:20Scientists believe that this crest was probably used to attract a partner
04:25or to show off to other dinosaurs.
04:28Then there is the most frightening of all in the kingdom of dinosaurs.
04:32The T-Rex.
04:34Can you imagine this one in bird version?
04:37In addition, you may have seen images of T-Rex
04:40with its large, sharp teeth and large, open jaws,
04:44always ready to bite its prey.
04:46But these images could be completely false.
04:49Some recent research indicates that these super predators
04:53could have had something that we consider acquired
04:56in almost all terrestrial animals today.
04:59Lips.
05:01Think about it.
05:02When you look at a crocodile or an alligator,
05:05you don't see any lips covering their teeth.
05:07So, everyone has always assumed that their prehistoric ancestors,
05:11the theropod dinosaurs, were the same way.
05:14Not quite.
05:16Researchers examined fossilized dinosaur skulls
05:20and compared them to modern reptiles,
05:23discovering that these dinosaurs probably had soft tissues around their mouths
05:27that worked like lips.
05:30Scientists learned this by studying small passages
05:33in the upper jaws of dinosaur skulls,
05:36something called foramina.
05:38Foramina allow blood vessels and nerves
05:41to reach the soft tissues around the mouth.
05:44In reptiles with lips, like lizards,
05:46these foramina are arranged in a line along the edge of the jaw,
05:49near the teeth.
05:51Scientists also examined the enamel of the teeth.
05:54When the enamel dries, it wears off more easily.
05:57Researchers have discovered that the side of alligator teeth
06:01wears off more than the moist side,
06:03facing the inside of the mouth.
06:06However, in theropods, like the T-Rex,
06:09the teeth have a uniform wear pattern.
06:12This indicates that the teeth were kept covered and moist.
06:16On this basis, scientists believe that theropods
06:19with long, sharp teeth, like the T-Rex,
06:22could also close their mouths with their teeth inside.
06:27The teeth of theropods and varans are similar in size,
06:30and varans can completely close their mouths.
06:33Therefore, it is likely that theropods also had lips
06:36that allowed them to completely close their mouths.
06:39However, we do not know if they wore lipstick.
06:45It is interesting to note that the study also revealed
06:48a range of mandibular foramina,
06:51in an extinct and quite impressive cousin of crocodiles.
06:55In addition, lips could have been present in the first archosaurs,
06:59the group of reptiles that gave birth to dinosaurs and crocodiles.
07:03Now, this may not seem like a big problem,
07:06but it really changes our way of thinking
07:09about the way these dinosaurs fed.
07:11If they had lips, it is possible that they could have
07:14controlled their bite more precisely,
07:17and maybe even gnawed their food,
07:19instead of simply tearing it apart.
07:22Some still believe differently,
07:24claiming that the T-Rex and other theropods
07:27had flat scales like crocodiles,
07:29extending to the edge of their jaws.
07:31So, I guess the mystery of dinosaur lips continues.
07:36You may be wondering,
07:37did sauropods like the titanosaur also have feathers?
07:41Some scientists think that all dinosaurs,
07:44including sauropods, had feathers,
07:47in the same way that all mammals have at least a few hairs.
07:51But large mammals, like elephants,
07:54have a limited number of hairs,
07:56so it is possible that sauropods did not have many feathers.
08:00Since feathers are something you will encounter
08:03in fossilized form,
08:05the chances of finding those of sauropods
08:08or similar dinosaurs are certainly lower.
08:11In addition, it is possible that the great dinosaurs
08:14who lived in a hot climate did not have feathers at all.
08:19Many fossils of feathered dinosaurs
08:21have been discovered in China.
08:23These fossils helped us understand
08:25the transition of feathered dinosaurs to birds.
08:28Because birds could be the only animals that survived,
08:31and that are present today,
08:33directly linked to dinosaurs.
08:35I wonder what happened here.
08:37It is possible that some types of theropods,
08:40they began to hide more in the trees,
08:43looking for food and protection,
08:46so that their body evolved to become even smaller,
08:49in order to survive in difficult conditions
08:52and dangerous predators in ambush.
08:55But this remains a transition of the most incredible creature
08:59that the animal kingdom has known,
09:01up to the gnawing chicken.
09:03Talk about an evolution that generally makes animals progress.
09:06Hey, stop that, I did not think so.
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